Of course Apple can read iCloud data. How do you think Google and Microsoft scan everything in your account? They all have the capability to read your cloud d

Of course Apple can read iCloud data. How do you think Google and Microsoft scan everything in your account? They all have the capability to read your cloud data. What Apple cannot read are the results of your device scanning your iCloud Photos. Those results are encrypted and stay that way until your device finds 30 matches for known kiddie porn. Once you pass the threshhold, Apple gets the decryption key and a human review is triggered to make sure there weren't just 30 false positives.